The Ohio Supreme Court on June 20 reversed a Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) decision (Docket No. 16-0395-EL-SSO) that allowed local utility Dayton Power & Light (DP&L) to charge its 515,000 customers extra in an “electric security plan.”

As the utility explained it, “The proposed plan includes a new charge that will appear on all customer bills, the purpose of which is to ensure the reliability of electric supply in Ohio. Each year, that charge will reset based on actual market conditions and will be reviewed by the PUCO. Over the life of the plan, the charge is projected by an independent third party to decrease and become a credit to all customer bills, moderating prices. If approved as proposed, starting in the first year (2017) the charge for DP&L’s average residential customer’s total bill, using 1,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) per month is $1.21 or approximately a 1% increase.”

However, the court did not see it that way (Case No. 2014-1505). Indeed, the reversal is anticipated to save saves local ratepayers $80 million they would have paid the utility this year, according to the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, which appealed the PUCO decision along with the Industrial Energy Consumers of Ohio.